Stunning S.H.I.E.L.D. art promises returning baddie, teases new team member

As part of that epic art initiative to promote the final few episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s first season, a new piece has debuted that teases a potential new team member for Coulson’s squad.

Eisner award-winning artist Paolo Rivera put this one together, which shows Coulson’s team all spread out, and considering the commitment to make these pieces, we’d think the placement is pretty important. Coulson’s at the center, with returning baddie Raini below him and turncoat Agent Ward below her.

We also get Coulson’s team in an odd arrangement, with Skye on the fringe, and FitzSimmons split up on opposite sides — with a HYDRA logo hanging over the entire proceedings. But along with all of these folks, we also have a new face: Agent Triplett, who was introduced a few episodes ago and seems to be tagging along on the Bus.

So, with Ward (apparently) on the HYDRA side of things, could Triplett be the new specialist to join up with Coulson’s unit? Judging by his very interesting addition here, it certainly makes us wonder. If he does, we'd love it — the character is far and away more interesting than Ward, and we'd love to have him stick around.

Producer Jeffrey Bell had some great things to say about the artwork in a chat with Entertainment Weekly. Here’s an excerpt:

“I think it’s more of an emotional piece than some sort of an illustrative metaphor. Some of the others will have more of a metaphor at the center. What I love about this one is that at first glance, it’s, ‘oh look, there’s our team.’ But with what we know about episode 17 now, you take a closer look and the Hydra logo has the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle in the middle of it, which we call “Shydra” — which I think is brilliant. And just the fact that Raina and Ward are in Coulson, and how the team is split behind Coulson…I even love the steam, the icy breath.”

If you’re interested in picking up one of these pieces, they’re being released in a limited quantity online at MarvelStore.com. What do you think of the piece? Have you been digging the last few episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D.?